arrived in South Africa - First impressions

I have arrived safely in South Africa!  Well, it was a long journey, 2 days of travel with some help along the way from some friendly folks.  Arriving in Johannnesburg was a little intimidating, but the first step was to take the Guatrain to Pretoria.  The train is just like Europe!  They use the same system.  Coming out of the train station at night was a little different, there were no signs for taxis so I asked a guard if she knew where to go, and she called for me.  I know I paid too much, but i was happy to get to my hotel.  The lady at the hotel desk also helped me pay the taxi driver as I did not have any local currency yet. Anyway the hotel was good, small room, but since I only slept there overnight it was fine. The hotel had a shuttle to the bus station the next morning so they dropped me off.
I went to the first City to City Bus station and a fellow customer told me I was in the wrong line.  She helped me find the worker who directed me to the correctly line (not labeled) and I picked up my ticket to Louis Trichardt.  I then spent 15 minutes asking all the bus drivers if they were going to my location, they weren't and the busses were not labelled either.  I found the ticket guy again, and he told me my bus was not here yet, and where to wait.  I did ask the bus driver again to check though, and he looked out for me on the rest of the ride!
The bus was nice, no bathroom though, so we all got out at a big rest area with lots of washrooms.  Pretty clean for such a busy place. 5.5 hours later, we rolled up to the gas station drop off, and David the principal was there to pick me up.   We drove back to his house and had a pop and hotdog...with lettuce...I was thinking I hope the food is going to be better than this!
Then he took me to where I would be staying, with the Mango family.  There is Dakalo, she is a teacher at the school and her husband, Edward who is a polic officer.  They have 4 children. 2 in school, 2 working.
The speak a local dialect, which i have repeatedly asked about, but can't grasp.  Let's just say, I will know way more spanish than this language.
So far the Mango house is fairly westernized, they eat with a knife and fork, have hot water, but no shower.  I think I will be excited for one soon!  Their house is quite big and I am staying in their guest room.  There is a lock and key for the door, which is nice for security as I can lock it when we leave the house as well.  Just a little surprising to  me, as they also lock their rooms and then their outside doors as well.

So far, I have visited family members, watched terrible Nigerian soap movies, went to a "thanksgiving" party (thankful for I don't know, neither did Dakalo-- loads of food and people) run some errands - every where seems so busy!, and even hung out at the hair salon.  They don't speak much English with each other, so I have been the translating third wheel.  At the same time it could be much worse!

Sunday we went to a 5000 person church, where we had to sit behind the pastor because I am a special visitor... we tried to sit in the back, but no luck.  I had to stand up to be clapped for which is a little crazy.  The music and dancing was amazing, though the preaching was a lot of screaming!  (there was a translator, but his words got lost by the screaming preacher who continued too soon.) At the end of the sermon, everyone was invited to be blessed/donate their money.  I didn't really love how these were connected directly.  It was pretty hot in there, so I stayed sitting, I was feeling a little faint, and a little uncomfortable with the process of the pastor blessing 4000 people one at a time, and then an assistant following with the donation bucket.

unfortunately, these blog posts will be with out pictures as I am not on my computer or ipad, the internet is so slow, it would take too long to load as well...just picture it everyone!

So far, top impressions: people here are very kind and welcoming.  The mountains are beautiful and make it feel like home a little.  Food here, at least at the Mango's is fairly similar, though I passed on the chicken feet...but at the dried caterpillar.   I hope you are all well!